Casting Shadows
by LoLoGreeneVines
Summary: Four years after the defeat of BelialVamdemon, Davis proposes a group trip to the Digital World for the younger Digi-Destined. However, several old enemies are scheming, and after one of them puts their plan into motion the teenagers find themselves dragged into a complex game of gambit roulette designed to achieve the highest Digivolution and seize control of the Digital World.
1. Prologue - Casting Shadows

**Author's notes: My July 2013 Camp NaNoWriMo attempt. Please feel free to review simply to order me to keep writing, even if you don't like the story and don't intend to read any updates, this is my sixth time attempting NaNo and I haven't won yet. I am absolutely determined to this time! :D**

**A brief note on names: I have stuck with the dub names for the Digi-Destined and partner Digimon, simply because that is what I have been used to for the last nearly fourteen years. (Gosh, I feel old.) In terms of other Digimon names, some will be the dub names and some will be the original names, depending on whichever one I think works best for the Digimon in question.**

**On with the story, and I hope you enjoy it. :)**

* * *

"Yes, I think it's about time I put my plan into action."

A dark voice rang clearly out of the shadows, and another creature floated into the room.

'_Haven't I been telling you this for months, my lord?'_

The first voice emitted a deep laugh as he heard the voice of his mute subordinate projected inside his own head. "You were wrong. The Digital World has been at peace for four and a half years now, which has given the Digi-Destined time to be lulled into a false sense of security. Their partner Digimon are weaker than ever, having had no practice fighting, and everything in both worlds is all happiness and light." He chuckled darkly again. "Sickening, isn't it?"

'_Quite so, my lord._'

"As such, I do believe that now is the perfect time to embark on my revenge. Enough time has passed, yet the children are still just that: children. The eldest are only just turning into adults, and as such, if I wait for much longer, they are sure to lose the naïvité which makes them such perfectly hopeless opponents. Who knows, if allowed to grow up, they could even amass enough wisdom to pose some sort of a threat to me."

'_They would never get past you, my lord. You're far too powerful for them._'

"And yet they somehow defeated BelialVamdemon at a time when most of them were eleven years old," the first voice said, his voice hinting at mild amusement. "Would you call BelialVamdemon a weakling?"

'_Indeed I would, my lord,_' the second creature mentally projected.

"And I suppose you would be quite right," the first voice conceded wearily. "Still, that is no reason to be complacent. BelialVamdemon may have been an utterly useless excuse for a Digimon, but he was still one of the strongest of the Nightmare Soldiers army, and I will admit that for a group of kids to have beaten him, they would have to be strong. Of course, the Digi-Destined were heavily reliant on their army of partner Digimon, and as I have demonstrated on numerous occasions, an army is not to be trifled with. Also, I have yet to understand the precise nature of the Digivices responsible for both the defeat of BelialVamdemon _and_ that of Apocalymon five years ago, but at least I have the Crests figured out."

The second creature broadcast its own ominous laughter.

"Now, my most loyal Lieutenant," the first voice continued. "It is time for us to think about paying the Digimon Sovereigns a visit."

* * *

"The time is near, Anubismon," the eight-eyed dragon Digimon sighed wearily. "We knew this period of peace could not last forever, and it seems as though the Enemy is close to putting their plan into action."

"You mean..?" the Digimon called Anubismon began, before being interrupted.

"Yes. The Digital World is about to be cast into shadows. I will be forced to release the Digi-Destineds' Crests in order to return them, but in doing so the Digital World will experience a time of, ah, instability."

Anubismon stared at his companion in disbelief. "That's an incredibly risky strategy, Huanglongmon. Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

"I am positive," Huanglongmon responded. "The Digital World is in danger either way, so the dilemma really comes down to whether we want the Digi-Destined to be able to fight back, or whether we just surrender and let darkness encompass the entire World."

"If you're sure," Anubismon replied. "I would still question the wisdom of allowing a group of children to participate in such a war, as it shall certainly descend into war."

Huanglongmon sighed. "How many times have I told you this? The Digi-Destined hardly count as children any more. They have taken on truly formidable opponents and won, despite the odds. I am positive that they are capable of restoring stability to our world."

"I still wonder if it might not be a better idea to take on the Enemy ourselves," Anubismon said anxiously. "Perhaps if you, me, Azulongmon, Zhuqiaomon, Ebonwumon and Baihumon take them on, we could..."

"No," Huanglongmon said impatiently. "If I were to release the Crests at full power, rather than three-quarters, like last time, the combined forces of the Digi-Destined, dare I say it, are as strong as ours. Besides which, if we were to fight personally, what would happen to the Digital World if we were to be destroyed?"

"You win," Anubismon reluctantly conceded.

"Then we shall proceed with my original plan," Huanglongmon said. "I shall immediately commence splitting up the Four. We will worry about part two later, after the Enemy has made their move. Of course, you will know when it's time for you to make your move. I'm counting on you, Anubismon."

Anubismon nodded, just before disappearing into thin air to return to the Dark Area, and Huanglongmon returned to his post watching the Digital World.


	2. Tuna for Breakfast

It was, T.K. reflected, not a bad way to spend a summer afternoon. The younger Digi-Destined had taken the opportunity of the perfect weather to organise a group game of rounders in the park, with the children playing against their Digimon.

"Hey, T.K., catch!" Kari yelled as she hurled the ball towards the first base, laughing as Armadillomon curled into a ball and rolled forwards in an attempt to outrun the thrown ball. T.K. caught the ball just as Armadillomon rolled past, and opted to throw it to Davis in the centre of the roughly-marked pentagon. Davis fumbled the catch, letting it slip out of his grasp and snatching it up off the floor a split second after Armadillomon had rolled past the fourth base.

"Nice one, Davis," Ken called from twenty metres away in amusement as Veemon patted Armadillomon on the back and Gatomon let out a cheer.

Davis scowled. "Yeah, like you could have done any better, Ichijouji!"

"Well, if you'd care to let someone else have a turn at bowling, perhaps I could show you how it's done," Ken smirked as he walked towards the group, noting Davis' expression turning steadily more irritated.

"Yeah, Davis, why do you always get to bowl?" Yolei exclaimed from her post at the second base. "I bet Ken could bowl a zillion times better than you!"

Ken retreated back to his position fielding. "It's okay, Yolei, I was kidding," he said. "I don't mind not getting a turn at bowling. Besides which, I'm needed where I am: I bet Davis couldn't run as fast for the ball as I can."

Yolei burst into laughter as Davis huffed in indignation. "Yeah, is that a challenge? Take my place, T.W., I'm going to show Kari just how much faster than Ken I can run."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gatomon said crossly, just as Cody's voice bellowed across from the fourth base.

"OI! Be quiet, Davis! In case you had forgotten, we're supposed to be playing a game here and that's not really possible when our bowler won't bowl the ball!"

T.K. smiled to himself. Good old Cody, honest as ever. Of course, Cody was now a teenager, and was constantly surprising T.K. by becoming more and more assertive every day, despite never losing his idealism.

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Davis said, raising his arm with the ball in it. "Oh yeah, Patamon," he added, addressing the small Digimon which was now standing in front of Kari brandishing a bat twice as big as itself. "No flying, okay?"

Patamon gave a high-pitched laugh. "Yeah, no fear," he said, neglecting to add that his small wings made flying at speed a struggle.

Davis threw the ball and Patamon swung at it, sending the ball flying towards T.K. as Patamon took off, his tiny legs carrying him as fast as he could. However, before Patamon could reach the base, T.K. caught the ball in both hands.

"Sorry, buddy, looks like you're out," T.K. shrugged as Kari smiled kindly at the small Digimon.

"It's okay, Patamon, you're not the only one out," Wormmon said encouragingly.

"Indeed, you did well to hit the ball such a long way," Hawkmon said. "I suppose that means it's my turn." However, before Hawkmon could step into the batting square, Veemon's stomach gave a loud rumble.

"Davis, I'm hungry!" he announced unnecessarily as his stomach shouted again.

"Yeah, me too," Davis said, dropping the ball where he was and walking away to where the group had left their bags.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Yolei sighed, leaning on her base. "Sorry, Hawkmon, we can't play without Davis here."

Davis suddenly returned with Veemon, the pair of them stuffing their faces with chocolate. "Too right you can't!" he said through a mouthful.

"I think that what Yolei meant was that it's not really possible to play with only five people on the fielding side," Cody piped up.

"Well, if these two are going to decide to pig out, I suppose that means we'd better get out the picnic before Davis and Veemon finish the lot!" Yolei declared, before rushing over to fetch her hamper. With Kari's help she set out enough blankets for everybody to sit on in the middle of their rounders pitch, and T.K. handed plates around.

Once everybody was settled around the basket with a plateful of food from the Inoue's shop, Armadillomon spoke. "Yolei, do your parents not mind you taking all of this food from their shop?"

Yolei smiled. "Actually, I paid for this all myself."

Davis nearly choked on a mouthful of crisps.

"You mean you spent what looks like quite a bit of your own money on us when you're saving up for a new computer?" Ken asked, his eyes wide as he looked at Yolei. Veemon thumped the suffocating Davis on the back.

"Well, yeah, you're my friends," Yolei said, glancing up from her plate of food and smiling briefly at Ken, before quickly looking back down at her salad. Cody let a small rush of air from his nose which might have been a concealed laugh.

"Well, thank you, Yolei," Kari said gently as she tucked into her own salad, and the rest of the group murmured in agreement.

The Digi-Destined and their Digimon spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and laughing, completely at peace with the world as they ate their picnic and discussed their plans for the rest of the summer. After a while, Davis spoke up.

"Okay, guys, so we already know when we're going to the beach, when we're playing six-a-side soccer, when we're..."

"When we're all doing our homework together?" Ken offered.

"Yeah, I was hoping to forget that one," Davis muttered, before jumping to his feet. "What we haven't talked about yet is when we're visiting the Digital World!" The Digimon stood to attention.

"It would be nice to return for a bit," Gatomon said wistfully, as Patamon nodded in agreement.

"You mean you don't like being here with us?" T.K. asked in teasing tones, poking Patamon gently in the side.

Patamon stuck his tongue out. "Not if you're going to poke me like that, T.K.!"

T.K. shrugged. "Okay, I'm sorry," he said, as Kari made eye-contact with him and grinned.

"So, when are we going?" Davis said slightly louder than was necessary, smirking when Kari turned her attention away from T.K. and onto him.

"How about tomorrow?" Yolei proposed. "I mean, it's not my shift at the shop and none of us have anything better to do. Right?" she said, forcefully.

"Right!" T.K., Kari, Ken and Cody said quickly, to the delight of their Digimon.

"It's decided, then!" Yolei declared. "We'll go tomorrow!"

Davis scowled. "But what if I have a date with a cute girl tomorrow?"

Yolei burst into laughter. "And _do_ you?"

"No," Davis said, so softly the others could barely hear him, and Veemon patted his arm in consolation.

"Aww, I'm looking forward to this!" Patamon exclaimed excitably, jumping up onto T.K.'s head.

"Okay," Ken said. "If we're going to meet up to go to the Digital World tomorrow morning, Wormmon and I had better be returning to Tamachi soon. We'll need to be well-rested."

"Stuff that!" Davis shouted. "Ken, would you like to sleep over at mine tonight? You can have my room and I'll kip on the sofa, it's fine, and you can eat with us..."

"Yeah," Yolei butted in. "Ken, you can be the hot date Davis was talking about!"

Ken wrinkled his nose, ignoring Davis' protests. "Sorry, Davis, you're not really my type."At that, the rest of the group, except Davis, burst into laughter. "Seriously, though," he continued once the laughter had subsided. "Thanks for the offer, Davis, but I promised my mother that I'd buy her some cereal on my way home and she'll want it in the morning. I'll be sure to send you a message when I reach Odaiba, though."

"Why don't we all just agree to meet at my place at nine in the morning?" T.K. offered. My mother won't mind us using the computer, and she won't turn it off while we're in the Digital World so it's impossible to get back."

"Sounds good," Gatomon says. "That way we can spend the whole day in the Digital World!"

Wormmon suddenly spoke up. "Hey, aren't we going to invite the older Digi-Destined and their Digimon along with us?"

Ken smiled at his Digimon. "No, Wormmon, I've already explained to you that they're busy with exams at the moment," he said patiently. "Some of them are even away at university right now, so we really don't want to distract them from their studies. We'll go again with them all as one big group trip when they return."

"That sounds good," Kari said.

"Seeing as we've got that sorted, Wormmon and I really do need to be going if we're going to buy that cereal," Ken pointed out.

"I can sell you some cheap from my family's shop if you like, Ken!" Yolei said cheerfully.

"Won't your parents mind _that_?" Ken asked.

Yolei shrugged. "Probably, but I don't care!" she replied, a broad smile on her face as she looked up at Ken, who was just staring back.

Cody cleared his throat softly.

"Um, okay, that would be great, thank you." Ken said brightly, quickly turning away from Yolei and looking at Wormmon. "Looks like we're taking a detour on our way back to the station!"

"Your mother will be happy," Wormmon said kindly. "Yolei, would you like any help carrying the picnic bag?"

Yolei shook her head as she got to her feet and began haphazardly throwing the dirty plastic plates back into the bag. "No thank you, Wormmon, it's okay," she said cheerfully. "Ken will be happy to do it!"

T.K. had to fight the urge to smile as the kind Ken immediately jumped up to help. Of course, Yolei was right, and as the group split up T.K. walked with Patamon, Cody, Armadillomon, Yolei, Hawkmon, Wormmon and Ken, the latter of whom uttered not one complaint about his designated role as bag-carrier.

* * *

The next morning, T.K. was woken early by Patamon jumping up and down on his pillow in excitement. After explaining his plans for the day to his mother, she went off to work, leaving T.K. and Patamon alone in the apartment to sort out their own breakfast.

Just as T.K. was about to put some toast on, the doorbell rang and T.K. answered it to find Kari and Gatomon waiting on the porch.

"Gatomon kept on pestering me to get up. I'm really sorry we're so early," Kari said apologetically.

"It's fine, please come in," T.K. said quietly, holding open the door for the girls and showing them into the kitchen.

"Gatomon!" Patamon yelled, and immediately raced towards the cat Digimon, happy to see his friend again.

T.K. nodded towards the Digimon. "Those two are great together," he said, laughing as Patamon jumped on Gatomon's head and tried to lift her up into the air.

"Well, we do make a great team," Kari responded, beaming at T.K., who smiled back.

"We do indeed. I was just about to make some toast. Would you like anything?" T.K. asked, tearing his eyes away from his friend and making his way into the kitchen.

Kari laughed as Patamon dropped Gatomon onto the table and collapsed in exhaustion. "Well, I wouldn't mind some toast," Kari said. "Thank you, T.K."

"I'll have sausages, eggs, more sausages and bacon, with sausages on the side," Gatomon said, scampering into the kitchen.

"Sorry, Gatomon, we're fresh out of sausages," T.K. said, incredulous that such a small Digimon could eat so much.

Gatomon frowned. "Oh, well, in that case I'll just have some tuna."

"Gatomon!" Kari said in a scandalised voice. "You already ate all of poor Miko's tuna before we came here!"

"Oh yeah, so I did," Gatomon said quietly, contemplating the floor.

"It's okay, Gatomon can have more tuna if she likes, right, T.K.?" Patamon asked.

T.K. opened a tin and handed it to Gatomon, who tucked in. "She means thank you," Kari said quickly, raising an eyebrow at the hungry cat.

T.K. put the bread in the toaster and switched it on before returning to the dining table. "So, what are you most looking forward to seeing again?" he asked , leaning slightly across the table towards Kari.

Kari's eyes lit up as she no doubt pictured the world in her mind. "I'm looking forward to returning to the forest, and the mountains, and the desert, and perhaps even Primary Village," she said thoughtfully, as she closed her eyes and adopted a beautifully serene smile. "And, of course, it'll be good to see our old friends again. Even the Numemon." At that moment, the toast popped out of the toaster and T.K. left the table to collect it. He spread butter on the toast and brought it in to Kari and Patamon, along with a selection of jams.

However, before he could take a bite, T.K. heard another voice.

"Hey, T.L.! Why are you eating breakfast with Kari?"

"Hi Davis, Veemon," T.K. said without even looking towards the intruders.

"You left the door open, so we thought we'd come in!" Veemon said cheerfully.

Davis folded his arms and glared at T.K. "You didn't answer my question. Why are you eating breakfast together?"

T.K. raised his arms in a placating manner. "Chill, Davis. If you'll remember, _you_ could have been eating breakfast with _Teen Genius Ken Ichijouji_ earlier."

"He's not Kari!" Davis shouted."Kari's beautiful and perfect and amazing and..."

_Yes, she is,_ T.K. thought grimly. _She's also not yours._

"Hey, Veemon, will you shut your pet human up before I have to? There's a good little dragon," Gatomon said, examining her claws.

"You know, Davis, you are kind of causing a scene," Veemon said, pointing out the fact that the other Digi-Destined were standing outside the door by this point, peering in.

"Aaaaand _that_ marks the end of breakfast," T.K. said to himself, gesturing for the Digi-Destined to follow him into the study.

Yolei booted up the computer and set up a Digi-Port as the Digi-Destined and Digimon chatted among themselves.

"I think we're just about ready!" Yolei exclaimed. "Digi-Port open!"

One-by one the teens held up their D3s until T.K. and Patamon were the only ones left in the apartment.

"Everything's sorted, so I guess it's time for us to go," Patamon said, re-checking the front door was locked.

"Okay," T.K. said. "Off to the Digital World, then!" And with that, he raised his D3 to the monitor and he and Patamon were absorbed into the computer screen.

* * *

When they landed, T.K. looked around and noticed that they were in a familiar place: the forest where Gatomon had apparently lost her Holy Ring five years ago. Was it really that long?

T.K. looked down at Patamon, who jumped up onto his head and looked around himself.

"Hey, T.K.," Patamon said over the voices of the other Digi-Destined. "Gatomon and Kari aren't here."

* * *

Kari picked herself up from the floor where she had landed and shivered, surprised by how cold the place was. Beside her she felt Gatomon trembling slightly, before the small Digimon climbed up onto her shoulders and threw her arms around Kari's neck.

Kari suddenly became aware of how grey everything looked, and noticed that there was no monitor on the floor for the pair to have emerged from.

"I'm scared, Kari," Gatomon said quietly.

"No," was all Kari could say.

* * *

"Azulongmon," the great yellow dragon Digimon said in greeting.

"Huanglongmon, what brings you to the Eastern Quadrant?" Azulongmon asked in surprise.

Huanglongmon sighed. "I'm afraid I am going to have to ask you the ultimate favour," he said quietly. "I am sure you are aware of precisely why the Digimon Sovereigns each have twelve Digi-Cores, instead of the usual one?

Azulongmon nodded sadly. "You need me to give up the Crests."

"I'm afraid so," Huanglongmon confirmed. "All three of them, Hope, Light and Miracles, and all at full power."

"All twelve Digi-Cores," Azulongmon said quietly. "I can't say I didn't see this coming. Bad things have been happening."

"Don't worry. I shall personally keep an eye on your Quadrant until you are reborn," Huanglongmon said, neglecting to add that he almost certainly would not be able to keep his promise.

"Well, I suppose I shall see you again," Azulongmon said, gathering his Digi-Cores into groups of four and fusing them together into the familiar Crests, before dissolving into the air and scattering the Crests to the winds.

"Thank you, Azulongmon," Huanglongmon murmured, watching as the three yellow, pink and white crests twinkled out of sight.


	3. Engineering Avalanches

**Author's notes: Many thanks to chromate, LILFOC and crestoflight3 for reviewing and for your constructive criticism. It's much appreciated, especially considering the fact that writing stories with a large number of major characters is something I'm basically new to. I tend to forget stuff when I have a dozen characters all talking over each other, so reminders about what I need to improve on are brilliant, and I only hope this chapter is a slight improvement on the last. :D**

**I had a brain-fart while writing this chapter and dug myself a plot-hole! This is what happens when you have made rubbish notes - you forget to add the foreshadowing. Thanks, Lord Jaric - it's filled in now. Whoops. (Totally not an ass-pull. Really. All will be explained eventually, and it's going in my notes so I remember this time.)**

**Also, I should probably mention that I am holding off on most of the character development for a bit as I have fifty thousand words to fill. Don't worry, I have plans****. :)**

**NaNo update: Seeing as I live in the UK, I just moved into day three thirty minutes ago and I am currently just over 1500 words ahead of schedule. I intend to use the next six hours to write, so hopefully I'll be at eight or nine thousand before I go to bed in the morning. Don't you just love when stories just write themselves?**

* * *

Kari looked around and took in as many details of her surroundings as she could. She was on a familiar beach with grey sand, grey water and grey cliffs, as though all of the colour had been bleached from the world. Clinging tightly to Gatomon, she took a few uncertain steps away from the ocean, only to stop in her tracks when she heard a small noise, rocks shifting ever so slightly behind her, and turned to the cliffs to witness a miniature chunk of the cliff fall away and land on the beach below.

"Watch out, Kari, looks unsafe..." Gatomon whispered, noting how loose a lot of the rock above looked. "Don't get too close to the cliffs."

Kari turned her head to her partner and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, because when you suddenly find yourself in a strange, dark world which somehow exudes evil with every lap of the waves of the sea, proper beach safety is key."

"You know it," Gatomon responded. "You would be surprised how many people are injured in rockslides. I know, I looked up the figures."

"You know, I was joking," Kari pointed out, detaching Gatomon from her long, brown hair. "Wait, you look up injury figures?"

Gatomon clambered off Kari's back and into her arms. "Yeah. You humans have such fascinating ways of hurting yourselves. It's really quite silly how careless you are, it can get quite amusing at times."

"That's rather morbid," Kari said, quietly.

"Speaking of morbid," Gatomon piped up, pointing towards the shifting horizon of the ocean, "it looks like we've got company."

* * *

"What?" T.K. asked bluntly, staring at Patamon, his eyes narrowed.

"Looks like Gatomon and Kari never arrived," Patamon said in bewilderment. T.K.'s eyes widened in alarm as he glanced around the group, taking a quick headcount.

"Patamon's right," Davis cried. "We've lost Kari!"

"Oh man," T.K. said, realising that the pair were indeed missing. "We need to get them back, or Tai's gonna kill me..."

Cody frowned at T.K. "Hold on a minute, how do we know they aren't on their way and it's just taking a while to upload them? Gatomon is a Champion level Digimon, after all, she must be carrying a lot of data..."

Shaking his head, T.K. looked down at the floor until his face was covered by his blonde fringe. "I was the last one through. I saw Kari and Gatomon leaving, they should have arrived here before I did," he said, sadly.

"Okay, so we've lost our friends," Veemon added. "Sounds like what we need is a lost-and-found office!"

"Wow, Veemon, your helpfulness never ceases to amaze me," Patamon said dryly.

Yolei sat down on a low tree branch. "I guess that means Silphymon's out of the equation for the moment," she said, looking at Hawkmon, who had climbed into the upper branches of a tree. "Hey, Hawkmon, can't you digivolve into SuperAwesomeBirdiemon or something without Gatomon?"

"I'm sorry, Yolei," Hawkmon answered.

"Ah well, I'm sure I'll get over it," Yolei shrugged. "At least you can still armour evolve. You _can _still armour evolve, right?"

"It doesn't matter if he can or not," T.K. pointed out, a note of hysteria creeping into his voice. "Gatomon might be able to, but seeing as Nefertimon's power is approximately equivalent to that of a Champion, there's not much point now that she has her Holy Ring back. If anything stronger than a Champion were to show up..."

"Oi! What gives you the right to be so upset about Kari being in danger?" Davis suddenly exploded.

T.K. blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, do grow up, Davis!" Yolei exclaimed. "T.K. has been friends with Kari for far longer than you have, of course he's going to be upset when she disappears into thin air and leaves no way of telling whether she's even okay or not!"

"Thanks, Yolei, I feel much better now," T.K. deadpanned.

Davis folded his arms and pouted. "Yeah, but I love Kari," he said. T.K. rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"You do kind of say that about every girl you meet, Davis," Ken chipped in.

"That's not true!" Davis protested. "I have never once said that about Yolei."

"That's just as well, because you'd only get a slap if you tried it," Yolei muttered.

"WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP?"

The entire group turned, stunned, to see Cody standing with his back to them, fists clenched by his sides.

"Look at you all, bickering like children! Yes, children! Literally nothing has changed in the last five years if you're all going to just stand around arguing when something bad happens instead of actually doing something about it!"

"Cody's right, you know," Armadillomon pointed out. "Although I will admit that your fighting makes a spectacular spectator sport."

At that, Veemon, Hawkmon, Patamon and Wormmon all nodded in agreement.

"_So_," Cody continued, turning around to face the silenced group with a look of determination on his face. "There are two things we need to consider right now. Firstly, where the heck even is Kari?"

"That's a really good point, Cody," Ken said thoughtfully. "We don't even know that Kari isn't in the Digital World; for all we know, she could just have come out too soon, like getting off the bus at the wrong stop."

"They're not in the Digital World," T.K. said, so softly the group could hardly hear him over the sound of the trees rustling in the wind.

Hawkmon fluttered down from the tree he was in and regarded T.K. carefully. "How can you be so sure they're not here?"

Patamon assumed his usual position on top of his partner's head. "I think T.K. is right," he said, worriedly.

"All right, genius, in that case, where do _you_ think she is?" Davis demanded. T.K. responded with a sigh.

"The Dark Ocean."

T.K. heard sharp intakes of break from Yolei, Ken, Wormmon and Hawkmon.

"You mean that freaky dream she had in school that time?" Davis blurted out.

"It wasn't a dream!" T.K. said angrily. "Didn't you notice her blurring around the edges all day, fading in and out of existence until she eventually just vanished?"

"Well, no," Davis conceded grudgingly. "I guess I wasn't really paying _that_ much attention..."

Ken took a few steps towards Davis until he was standing right in front of the stubborn boy. "If you'd like any proof that the Dark Ocean is real, Davis, I suggest you take a look at this," he said, holding out the black D3 in the palm of his hand.

"Hey, didn't Cody say that there were _two_ things to consider?" Armadillomon pointed out before Davis could insert his foot even further into his own mouth.

"Thank you, Armadillomon," Cody said. "Okay, so our best guess is that Kari and Gatomon are currently in the Dark Ocean. However, assuming this is the case, we're forgetting something _really_ important."

"Oh," Yolei breathed, evidently catching on. "How are we even going to get there?"

However, before the Digi-Destined could dissolve into yet another argument, Davis looked up from Ken's still-proffered Digivice with a grin. "I know!"

"Oh, what now Davis?" Cody irritably asked.

"Why don't we just follow the pink dot on Ken's D3?"

* * *

"We need to get out of here," Kari said decisively putting Gatomon down, turning along the beach and beginning to run.

"Where are you going, Kari?" Gatomon asked, running along to catch up with her partner. "You have no idea where this beach goes!"

Kari kept running, searching for any sign of a way out of the Dark Ocean she had hoped to never find herself dragged into again. "I'm looking for any trace of colour," she said, more to herself than Gatomon, slowing down ever so slightly and looking towards the cliffs to her left. "There must be a way through to the Digital World somewhere!"

Gatomon caught up with Kari and slowed until the two were running alongside each other. Looking out to sea, Gatomon noticed that the creatures on the horizon were getting closer. She could now see an underwater mass of what appeared to be creatures swimming for the shore just under the surface, about half a mile away. "They're getting closer, Kari, and they're under the surface! I bet they're the Divermon!"

"We'll just have to find a way out, then, won't we?" Kari said, her mouth a grim slash of determination. The pair turned a gentle corner and saw a sheer cliff rising ahead of them, marking the end of the beach.

"We're stuck!" Gatomon exclaimed in dismay.

Kari thought quickly. "Right, we can't run any further, and we don't have time to turn back. Our only real option is to climb these cliffs," she said, stepping closer to the unstable cliff face. "Hey, maybe that's the way out! Remember when we got stuck here with Yolei and Ken? We came out on a cliff, looking over the Ocean!"

"There's a small problem with that," Gatomon pointed out. "How do you propose we get up there? That cliff is more precarious than a dog balancing on a post."

Kari raised an eyebrow. "Gatomon, in case you had forgotten, you Digivolve from a dog."

"I was trying to forget about that," Gatomon said in dismay, staring at her feet causing her to miss the grin spreading across Kari's face.

"Hey, Gatomon, can you Digivolve?" she asked hurriedly. "You could fly us both up as Angewomon then!"

Gatomon scrunched up her face and spun in circles, before falling over sideways, dizzy. "I can't Digivolve, Kari! You don't have the Crest!"

"Okay," Kari said, furrowing her brow. "What about as Nefertimon?"

Gatomon shrugged. "It could be worth a try."

"Digi-armour energise!" Kari cried, holding up her D3 and D-Terminal. Nothing happened.

"Oh, come on, that always works!" Gatomon complained. "Even when Ken was building all of those Control Spires I could Digivolve to Nefertimon! Why not now?"

Kari pinched the bridge of her nose. "Something strange is clearly going on. Well, if you're stuck as a Champion, we can't wait around for a large group of Ultimate Digimon to find us, but we just don't have enough time to climb to the top of the cliff! Hey," she said, pointing up at a spot on the tall cliff at the edge of the beach, about ten metres off the ground. "Is that a cave up there?"

Gatomon jumped to her feet, searching for the spot Kari had indicated. "It looks like it. Stand back, Kari!" she said, raising a paw towards the very corner of the cliff. "Holy shot!"

A ball of solid light burst into being in the centre of Gatomon's paw, before she sent it flying into the cliff a few metres to the right of the cave, just below a small ledge. Kari's eyes widened in alarm as she watched part of the cliff give way, forming a large mound of rubble beginning just a few metres away from where the two stood.

"Thought you'd just give up and end it quickly for us, Gatomon?" Kari deadpanned as the last of the loose rock settled.

"Nope," Gatomon said smugly, raising her tail proudly in the air. "I just saved us from having to climb a sheer drop. You're welcome." She pointed towards the top of the dust-cloud with her tail, where Kari could just about see a way up to a clear spot to the right of the cave.

"Oh, you're good," Kari said, impressed. "What would I do without you, Gatomon?"

"Die," the cat said simply. "Now, let's climb before we're fish food. Follow me, and do be careful. Remember, you're essentially climbing a pile of rocks supported by not a lot more than air, with a huge cloud of dust making it impossible to see if any more rocks are about to fall on your head. Please try not to be killed, I actually kind of like having you around."

And with that, Gatomon disappeared into the cloud , trusting Kari to follow her moves precisely.

Gatomon easily scaled the precarious boulders, but Kari had slightly more difficulty. Taking care not to look down, even though she would have soon lost sight of the ground, Kari climbed the stones as quickly as she could while still keeping safe, although she regretted choosing to wear her favourite light trousers that day as the sharp, jagged limestone was making quick work of the material. At several points, the rocks Kari had been stepping on crumbled under her feet and she had been forced to quickly find a foothold. However, after a minute, Kari saw Gatomon descending nearly back to her level.

"Do you actually _want_ the Divermon to catch us? I only ask because, well, I can smell them getting closer."

"I'm doing the best I can," Kari called in response, sending another small wave of rocks tumbling down onto the beach below.

"Oh, fine," Gatomon said. "Grab my tail, I'll help you. We're not too far away."

With Gatomon's help, Kari quickly made her way to a spot just underneath the ledge at the top of the rockslide. "Hey, Gatomon, the cave is too far away! I won't be able to jump that far!"

Gatomon sighed in exasperation. "Just what sort of a wimp do you think I am, Kari?" she asked, grabbing her partner's wrist and shaking her loose from the cliff face, until she was hanging in the air.

"Nope!" Kari shrieked, scrabbling her feet against the cliff, searching for a foothold.

"Don't be such a baby," Gatomon chided, beginning to swing Kari backwards and forwards in the air. "Now, remember to bend your knees when you land." With that, Gatomon let go, flinging Kari forwards into the cave, where the Digi-Destined landed on her face. Three seconds later, Gatomon landed gracefully on top of her back.

"Ouch," Kari said, sitting up and examining the scratches on her elbows.

Gatomon shook her head, her eyes closed. "What did I tell you about bending your knees?"

Kari raised an eyebrow as Gatomon turned back towards the mouth of the cave. "Holy Shot!" the Digimon cried, this ball of light flying right to the top of the cliff, sending several more tons of solid stone hurtling towards the ground and creating rubble which reached the top of the cliff.

"We're not going up there?" Kari said in disbelief.

"No," Gatomon said quickly. "We don't have the time. Come on, we need to get deeper into this cave if we're to hide from the Divermon, they can't be far away now."

Gatomon took Kari's hand and led her through the darkness for the twenty-or-so metres it took them to reach the back wall of the cave as they listened for the sound of the Divermon approaching. The pair huddled behind a rock and waited for the noise to grow louder, hoping it would eventually fade as they continued climbing up the cliff towards the top.

Kari and Gatomon held their breath as they heard the sound crescendo outside the cave, releasing the air as the sound began to diminish.

"I think they're going, Kari," Gatomon whispered.

"Hello, my pretty," a rough voice said suddenly, and Kari felt Gatomon tensing next to her as a light came on and the two were confronted by the sight of a large group of Divermon, the apparent leader brandishing a torch.

"Oh, crap," Kari said, and Gatomon jumped in front of her, claws outstretched.

* * *

"I know what you want, Huanglongmon, and I know I must comply, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it," the great red bird Digimon said before Huanglongmon could even greet him.

"Zhuqiaomon, I'm as unhappy about it as you are, but releasing the Crests at full power has become a necessity."

"I said I know," Zhuqiaomon snarled, already beginning to gather his Digi-Cores into groups of four. "I'm not blind, I have seen the evil in the South."

"I'm glad you understand," Huanglongmon said, watching as the Digi-Cores fused into three Crests: orange, dark blue and bright red, the latter containing a new spiral pattern. Zhuqiaomon faded into the air without another word, and Huanglongmon watched as the three Crests slowly drifted away. After all, these wouldn't be needed so quickly as the last three.


	4. A Single Star in the Midnight Sky

**Author's notes: Again, thank you for reading, and your reviews. Yeah, there are a couple of plot-holes which leave this story slightly at odds with the canon. I'll include explanations in the later chapters, because there is a reason for a few things which have been pointed out as seeming to diverge from the canon. This fic is eventually going to get quite complicated. If you don't like the explanations then, you can just regard this as an AU fic. I really don't mind, it's kind of up for interpretation. :)**

**On the subject of wordcount: this chapter makes 11,331 words which puts me three days ahead of NaNoWriMo schedule. I am literally just about to enter day five, during which I hope to wrap up the current arc and produce a few answers, which, like answers tend to do, will inevitably throw up yet more questions. I apologise in advance. :)**

* * *

The entire group, Digi-Destined and Digimon, crowded around Ken's outstretched hand in order that they might get a glimpse of the pink dot Davis had drawn attention to. Sure enough, T.K. could see it, flashing faintly in the bottom left of the screen.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Davis declared, snatching up Ken's D3 and turning around, beginning to march off.

"Hold it," T.K. said, giving Veemon a nod. Veemon grabbed Davis' bright red jacket and held on tight, preventing the boy from walking any further.

"What is it, T.K.? We have a dot to follow now, so we can go," Wormmon said uncertainly.

"I was wrong," T.K. murmured. "I don't understand how I could have been wrong."

Yolei clapped T.K. gently on the shoulder. "It's okay, everybody's wrong occasionally. Some more so than others," she added, glancing sideways at Davis who was struggling to break free of Veemon's grip.

"No, you don't get it," the blonde Digi-Destined frowned. "That time when you both disappeared into the Dark Ocean with Ken, your dots disappeared from our D3s. Seeing as we're picking up on a signal from Kari, she must be somewhere in the Digital World!"

"That's a good thing, T.K.," Patamon said kindly, fluttering down off T.K.'s head and looking up at him from the earthy ground. "We can actually get to Kari and Gatomon if they're in this world after all."

"Could I have my Digivice back please, Davis?" Ken interjected. Davis grudgingly handed it over, before taking out his own.

"Huh, this is weird," Davis said, bashing the D3 against a small rock. "You're all here, but I can't get a fix on Kari."

T.K.'s heart sank. "Ken, is she still showing up on yours?" he asked. Ken nodded slowly.

"Right, everybody check your Digivices!" Patamon exclaimed. "The blip on Ken's could be a fluke. More likely, though," he added, "the fluke is the absence of a blip on Davis'. Well, if he _is_ going to bash the thing against rocks..."

Cody took out his D3 and shrugged. "I got nothing."

"Me neither," T.K. admitted.

"All right! Looks like Ken's is the broken one after all!" Davis announced, slightly too cheerfully, only to receive a glare from Wormmon.

"No, wait!" Yolei said, frowning at her D3. "I've got a signal, too!" Davis looked dismayed.

"May I see, Yolei?" Hawkmon asked, peering over the Digivice. "Yep, that's her," he confirmed after a few seconds.

Davis rushed over to minutely examining the D3. "Hey, no fair! Why do Ken and Yolei get Kari's signal but I don't?"

"Would you shut up, Davis?" T.K. said wearily. "In case you hadn't noticed, you're not the only one without a signal."

"Oh yeah!" Davis exclaimed. "Well, at least you don't have one either, T.B."

"Grow up, Davis," Cody said sagely. "This isn't about some stupid one-sided rivalry, this is about getting our friend back in one piece. Or had you forgotten that?"

"I-I hadn't forgotten!" Davis spluttered.

Veemon pulled on Davis' sleeve to get his attention. "You know, Davis, you're not making yourself look very good right now."

"Okay!" Yolei exclaimed, holding her Digivice out in front of her. "I say we just follow the dots Ken and I are getting, see where our D3s take us and go from there. Does anybody disagree?" she asked, her expression silently daring the group to challenge her.

"No, I agree," Ken said, watching the faint blip on his Digivice before he looked up at Yolei and gave her a placating smile.

"I say we get going!" Davis announced.

"Well, okay," T.K. said, eager to do whatever it took to find his friend.

Hawkmon and Wormmon made their way to the front of the group, followed by their partners. "We'll lead the way," Hawkmon declared.

* * *

"Eeeeasy, kitty cat," the Divermon who looked to be the leader of the group said, sneering at Gatomon. "We don't want to have to hurt you."

"If that's true, then what do you want with us?" Kari asked warily.

"We've been sent by our master to fetch you," the leader said. Gatomon conjured up a warning shot and fired it over the heads of the Divermon, who responded with laughter.

"Don't make me laugh, kitty, we're all Ultimate Digimon. _You're_ only a Champion," another one said unkindly. "There's no way you can fight us."

Gatomon scowled. "That's what you think. Holy Shot!"

Another ball of light appeared in Gatomon's paw and she flung it at the leader with all of her might. However, the light glanced off the Divermon and the entire crowd erupted into hysterical laughter.

"Oooh, very pretty," the first Divermon said, mockingly, advancing on Gatomon. "Such a pity it didn't even leave a scratch."

"Oh, I'll give _you_ a scratch!" Gatomon burst out, leaping at the Divermon. "Lightning cl..."

However, before she could finish calling her attack, a third Divermon grabbed her and held her firmly in his grip, leaving her struggling to escape.

"You let her go right now!" Kari demanded.

"Oh yeah? What are _you_ gonna do about it?" the second Divermon asked in a bored voice.

Kari wavered for a second, before jumping to her feet, her own fists held in front of her. "I'll... I'll fight you myself!"

"Oh no you won't!" Gatomon exclaimed, before the Divermon holding her captive clamped a hand over her mouth, rendering her silent.

"Who are you kidding?" the first Divermon asked. "_You_ couldn't even hurt a Pichimon! I can tell, you just don't have it in you. Now, come with us, or we'll just kill your little friend."

The third Divermon blinked. "I thought we were under orders not to kill the cat, boss," he muttered.

"Yeah, but _she_ didn't need to know that," the leader of the Divermon hissed back at his inept colleague. "Right, girl, I am about to open a door behind you, and you are going to walk, got it? We will be right behind you and although we've got our orders, our master did not say anything at all about, ah, injuries. Do you understand me?"

Kari nodded, sadly. "I guess we picked the wrong cave to hide in, Gatomon."

With that, the Divermon leader took out his spear, stabbed the wall a few times until an opening appeared, and then said "after you, girl."

* * *

The Digi-Destined trekked through the undergrowth, getting further and further away from the path with every passing minute. After about an hour, Davis stopped in his tracks.

"Is it lunch-time yet?" he asked, hopefully.

"It's only half past ten in the morning, Davis!" Yolei retorted.

Veemon looked up at Davis curiously. "I thought you wanted to find Kari quickly?"

"I do," Davis admitted, scratching his head. "The thing is, I just wanted to stop for a minute. Something doesn't seem quite right."

"You mean the fact that we're short two people and have no clue if they're safe?" T.K. asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Actually, now Davis mentions it, something _does_ seem slightly off," Ken said thoughtfully.

"Are you referring to the fact that we've been here for over an hour and yet there seems to be no real sign of life anywhere, other than us?" Hawkmon said, startling the group into silence.

Yolei eventually shrugged. "Ah, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," she said. "It's probably even a good thing that we haven't seen any wild Digimon - it means we can save our strength in case we need it later."

"I hope you're right, Yolei," T.K. said, ominously.

"Hey, Ken, how far away is the light on your D3?" Wormmon piped up, eager to break the uncomfortable silence.

Ken glanced at his Digivice. "Conveniently enough," he said, pointing towards a particularly dense area of foliage about a hundred metres in front of the group. "Kari's light seems to be coming from just in there."

T.K. didn't look back, he just ran, oblivious to the thorny branches whipping his face and threatening to tear the sleeves of his turquoise shirt. Ignoring the shouts of his friends behind him, T.K. burst through a final thicket and found himself standing in a small, dark clearing.

"Hey, T.K., wait up!" he heard Patamon's muffled call as he looked around. A few of seconds later, the small Digimon clambered through the thicket, closely followed by the rest of the group.

"That was foolish, T.K.," Cody scolded.

"Yeah!" Davis said. "What would you have done if Kari and Gatomon were here, captured by a powerful Digimon? You can't just run in!"

"I can't believe Davis just said that," Yolei muttered to Ken.

T.K. ignored Davis' and Cody's reprimand, turning instead to Ken and Yolei. "Didn't you say that Kari should be here?" he asked, internally pleading that his friend really was nearby.

"Yeah, apparently she's right on top of us," Yolei said, examining her D3. "Odd, I'd have expected to at least be able to hear her..."

T.K., however, cut Yolei off, pacing circles around the clearing and calling "Kari! Kari!"

"Perhaps we should just return to my original 'Ken's Digivice is broken' theory, call it quits and start again?" Davis unhelpfully suggested.

"Ugh! This is utterly _hopeless_!" T.K. burst out, before promptly vanishing into thin air, along with Patamon.

* * *

"Ooh, nice magic trick, T.K.!" Veemon exclaimed, peering intently at the spot in which T.K. and Patamon had just disappeared. "You can become visible again now!"

There was no response.

Yolei sighed. "It wasn't a magic trick, Veemon. He's disappeared again. It seems as though that's becoming something of our team's weakness," she said, before she and Hawkmon vanished, too.

"O...kay?" Cody said, now thoroughly spooked, as he looked towards Armadillomon for support. "What are we supposed to do, just stand around aimlessly waiting for them to return from wherever the heck they've gone?" And with that, he and Armadillomon also faded out of sight.

Davis clutched at Veemon, turning to Ken with panic in his eyes. "In my humble opinion, I say we leave," he said nervously, before he and his Digimon also flickered out of existence.

"Well, he certainly left," Wormmon said. "Any thoughts, Ken?"

"Amazing how nobody else seemed to notice how cold this clearing is, let alone the fact that it is just so _bleak_," Ken said, miserably, picking Wormmon up off the ground and becoming aware of a dark expression beginning to cloud his face. "Well, there's only one thing for it: _cruelty_."

Ken closed his eyes and felt the world shifting around him and Wormmon.

* * *

T.K. felt the Digital World fade away and before he knew it, he and Patamon found themselves alone on the top of a cliff, looking out over a stormy, grey sea.

"I knew it," he said, turning to his partner. "It was a gate to the Dark Ocean. I knew she was here. It perfectly explains why she didn't appear to move at all while we were looking for her."

Patamon shivered. "I don't like this, T.K., I can just feel evilness everywhere."

T.K. remembered what had happened the first time he had come across the true powers of evil and blanched, recalling a mental image of Angemon dying. "I can't imagine what I'd do if that ever happened to Kari," T.K. said to himself, curling up on the floor with his knees tucked into his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs as he stared at the ground by his feet.

Suddenly, he caught sight of a flash of yellow among the dreary grey dirt.

Patamon did, too. "Look, T.K.!" he said, scrabbling away at the ground to reach the only bit of colour in sight.

T.K. picked up the small object and just held it in the palm of his hand, a grin beginning to spread across his face in spite of the situation. "Patamon, I think this means that Kari and Gatomon are going to be okay!" he exclaimed, standing up and spinning his partner around.

"What are you so happy about?" Yolei's voice asked, as the girl emerged from the trees behind T.K., closely followed by Hawkmon and the rest of the group T.K. had left behind.

"There is Hope!" T.K. declared, holding out the Crest for the group to see. "Quite literally!"

"Does this mean you can Digivolve to MagnaAngemon again, Patamon?" Armadillomon asked.

Patamon nodded. "I think so! I really hope so, actually, I felt really _cool_ as him!"

"You looked pretty darn cool, too," T.K. said, smiling, feeling as though a barrier had been put up between himself and the despair he had felt before his discovery.

This barrier put up by the Crest of Hope seemed to be affecting the rest of the group, too, for they erupted into cheers, their momentary joy strangely at odds with the bleak landscape and the fact that they were still missing two comrades.

Cody suddenly adopted a solemn expression. "Does this mean that there's no real point in Ankylomon and Angemon Jogress Digivolving?" he asked, anxiously.

"I'd guess not, Cody," Yolei said, placing a hand reassuringly on Cody's shoulder. "Ah well, now you can join me in the reject club."

Cody reluctantly smiled. "Or, perhaps I'll just find my own Crest and Armadillomon can Digivolve to Ultimate on his own!"

"That's the spirit, Cody," Armadillomon said, gently.

"Hey, isn't that another Crest in the sky?" Davis interrupted, pointing to a spot above their heads where T.K. could very faintly make out a brief twinkle of white.

"I doubt it, Davis," Ken said. "It's probably just a very bright star, or something. Remember, if you look the right way in the Real World, you can very occasionally see Sirius during daylight hours, even though the Sun shines so brightly the sky is light."

"I knew that," Davis sulked. "Now, how are we going to find Kari and get out of here?"

Hawkmon took to the air, hovering about twenty metres above the Digi-Destined and looking around. After a couple of seconds, he pointed out to sea. "I can see what looks like a sort of fort out over on the Ocean!"

T.K. frowned, before thinking to take out his Digivice. He was surprised to see that a pink dot had appeared on his own screen, rather less faint than the ones on Ken's and Yolei's D3s had been earlier, and the dot was indeed facing the direction in which Hawkmon was pointing.

"Right, we're going that way!"

However, before the group could head towards the edge of the cliff, there was an almighty explosion of colour from out on the sea.

* * *

The journey through the cave lasted for a good hour. Kari quickly realised that the cave was going deeper and deeper into the rock, until it must have been winding underground, and the dingy passage was snaking along in so many different directions she couldn't keep track of which direction she was goingin. Eventually, once the path had stopped descending, Kari saw a long stretch of straight tunnel ahead of her, the walls lined with flickering torches casting ominous shadows along the damp stone walls.

Every so often, Kari would look back at the group of Divermon on her tail, hoping to catch a glimpse of Gatomon, but every time one of them would poke her roughly in the back with their spear and she was forced to quickly turn and fix her eyes on the path ahead. However, despite the fact that she was utterly terrified, Kari refused to let her fear show; she knew perfectly well that Gatomon would be relying on her to not give in to the her fright. Besides which, the Divermon would be looking for any sign of weakness, and if Gatomon was too tied up to exhibit fearlessness, Kari would just have to be strong for the both of them.

Eventually, the party came to the end of the dank corridor and Kari noticed a long ladder leading up to what appeared to be a trapdoor in the high ceiling.

"I'll go first," the leader of the Divermon said roughly, shoving Kari aside and beginning the climb up the ladder. "You follow me, girl. My colleague currently restraining the cat will go after you. After that, I don't really give a dam in what order you all come up."

Kari mounted the bottom rung of the ladder, beginning to climb after the first Divermon as she heard a squabble break out among the remaining Divermon.

"Hey, boss!" the Divermon clutching Gatomon yelled, feet still firmly planted on the ground. "How am I supposed to climb the ladder while holding the cat?"

"I dunno, just climb with one hand or something! Don't be so useless!" the first Divermon grumpily yelled.

Kari sighed. "Just let her climb up on her own. You have already proved yourselves to be stronger than we are, and she wouldn't run away without me. Right, Gatomon?"

Gatomon nodded the best she could, despite the fact that the Divermon holding her captive really was gripping her rather firmly and she could barely move.

"Uh, fine, just don't try anything funny or we really will kill you," the Divermon leader said from up on the ladder.

The other Divermon let Gatomon go and she immediately stalked away from him, rushing ahead of Kari and winking at her. "Hey, Kari."

"Hi, Gatomon," Kari said, appreciating her partner's subtle attempt to reassure her.

"Just hurry up and climb!" the Divermon leader shot down at them. Kari and Gatomon kept on climbing.

Upon reaching the Divermon leader by the ceiling, Kari watched as the trapdoor sprung open and the first Divermon climbed up, quickly dragging both her and Gatomon up, one with each hand. Kari found herself dumped unceremoniously on the floor in a pitch-black chamber, and heard the remaining Divermon clambering through the trapdoor and forming a crowd behind her and Gatomon.

"Lord Dagomon," the head Divermon grovelled, and a light flickered on to reveal a repulsive grey Digimon with demonic-looking wings and far too many tentacles, sitting on a throne crafted out of what appeared to be fish scales and brandishing a malevolent-looking, three-forked trident. The monster regarded the captives with interest, before turning to the crowd of Divermon.

"Very good. You may go, Divermon," he said in a voice as deep and stormy as the ocean.

"Yes, sir," the leader of the Divermon replied, before the crowd began to file out of a door at the back of the room. Once the Divermon had left, leaving Kari and Gatomon alone in the huge room with Dagomon.

"Hmm..." Dagomon murmured, closely examining Gatomon before moving on to Kari. "I suppose you both know why I sent for you?"

Kari shook her head, forcing herself to stare straight into the eyes of her captive and not reveal any weakness.

"Do you not remember, Kari Kamiya?" Dagomon asked humourously, quirking what looked like an eyebrow. Kari gasped, astonished that this monster remembered her, especially considering he hadn't even seen her directly at the time five years ago. "I'm looking for a Queen."

"She already said no," Gatomon snarled. "How many times does she have to tell you before you get the picture?"

Dagomon merely laughed, the sound reverberating unpleasantly around the chamber. "I didn't mean the girl."

"Excuse me?" Kari asked, her voice barely hiding a squeak. She immediately regretted speaking, she could practically hear Gatomon snarking in her head, threatening semi-seriously to hunt down the mouse.

"You heard what I said," Dagomon responded in a bored tone of voice. "Now, here's the thing: I saw you Digivolving the last time you visited me, little cat." Gatomon gulped. "You scared off my Divermon. I must admit, I was most impressed," he said, smirking maliciously. "Now, I'm about to tell you a secret, girlies. I have a rather impressive Mega form."

"You're only an Ultimate?" Gatomon blurted out, undisguised shock evident in her voice.

"Indeed. Though, to be sure, my power is already on par with that of most Megas," Dagomon clarified, lazily examining the tips of his trident. "Now: why do you think I am telling you this?"

Kari looked at Gatomon, who shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she said, as calmly as she could.

"Of course you don't!" Dagomon cried. "Why would you? You don't live in the Dark Ocean, you haven't heard the tales."

"What tales?" Gatomon demanded.

Dagomon shook his head. "Why, the tales of Leviamon and Behemon!" he declared, as though it ought to have been obvious. "Legend has it that when Leviamon, otherwise known as me, once I Digivolve, and Behemon combine their forces, they will rule over the entire World; Leviamon retaining power over the seas, and Behemon over the land. I have been searching for a Digimon worthy of Digivolving into the legendary Behemon, and I have decided that you would make a most suitable partner! Of course, Behemon is generally regarded as being male in the legends," Dagomon added as an afterthought. "But I'm sure you would be sufficient!"

"I'm flattered," Gatomon said in a monotone. "But it's a no. I would be far more comfortable with us just being friends." Kari rolled her eyes.

"Oh, very good!" Dagomon announced, applauding Gatomon with his tentacles. "You've got some attitude, cat. You'll make a simply marvellous Queen. Now, Digivolve."

Gatomon blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"I said Digivolve," Dagomon repeated, an edge creeping into his stormy voice.

Kari's eyes widened in alarm. "She can't just Digivolve on command! It's not possible!"

"I would advise you both to think twice about that," Dagomon taunted. "If you cannot Digivolve, you are both useless to me."

"What I meant to say," Gatomon interjected, "is that I _can_ Digivolve. I just refuse to at this moment." Kari blinked, not daring to believe that Gatomon could be so bold as to make such bluffs.

"Is that so?" Dagomon asked, the hint of amusement returning to his voice. "In that case, here's what is going to happen. I am going to lock the pair of you in my dungeon, and then you have twenty four hours to Digivolve before I take you out and personally drown you both. Is that okay?" he asked, mockingly.

However, before Kari or Gatomon could respond, Dagomon called out "Divermon! Escort our guests to the dungeon," and two of the Divermon from the crowd scurried in, each putting one of the captives into a full-Nelson, and leading them out of the room to the sound of Dagomon's laughter.

The Divermon escorted Kari and Gatomon through another dank corridor towards a small, dark cell, threw them inside, slammed the door and left without a word. Once their gaolers had gone, Kari quietly began to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Kari, please don't cry!" Gatomon said softly, putting her arms around her partner and hugging her as reassuringly as she could. "We'll be fine, look, I can blast us out of here no problem."

Kari sniffed as the tears streamed down her face, curled up into a ball on the floor and clung to Gatomon. "No, you can't. How do you know we're not underwater? If you broke us out, we could both drown, or be crushed by the rubble. There's just no point," she whimpered.

"Kari, there is always a point," Gatomon said stubbornly. "Hey, would you like a light? It would probably be slightly less bad if we could see where we are, right?" Kari said nothing in response, but very slightly nodded her head. "That's more like it," Gatomon said, kindly, raising her tail. "Starlight!" she cried, as her Holy Ring began spinning and emitted a soft, but bright, light.

The small cell was immediately illuminated. Kari glanced up and noted that the walls were roughly hewn out of rock, like a smaller version of the cave they had hidden in unsuccessfully earlier, but there were rusty bars blocking the exit. The ceiling was dripping slightly.

"Oh, Kari!" Gatomon suddenly said in a sing-song voice, intently staring at a spot on the wall. "Does that look like pink to you?"

"What are you talking about, Gatomon, everything's grey here," Kari said quietly in response.

"Don't just ignore me," Gatomon demanded, seizing her partner's head and forcibly turning it to the wall. "Look, pink!"

Kari blinked in confusion and the tears stopped falling. Somehow, inexplicably, the Crest of Light was embedded into the wall of the cell the Digi-Destined of Light just happened to be locked in. However, Kari noticed that there was something slightly different about its design; instead of an image resembling the Sun, there was now a crescent resembling the Moon. How odd.

"Looks like I can Digivolve after all!" Gatomon cheered, attempting to high-five Kari. "Dagomon won't know what's hit him!"

"You're forgetting one thing, Gatomon," Kari insisted, wiping the tears off her face. "You can't just try to break us out! Even if you were Angewomon there's no guarantee we'd make it!"

"Perhaps not, but what if I just Digivolved?" Gatomon asked. "I wouldn't have to break us out, I could just send our gaolers scurrying with a couple of arrows when they come back."

Kari sighed. "Fine. I think we have enough space." She detached the Crest from the wall and held it in the palm of her hand, watching as the pattern lit up and feeling the small object growing warm. "Go for it, Gatomon!"

Gatomon immediately began to take on a dazzling glow as her body became completely engulfed by light. "Gatomon, warp-Digivolve to...

"Ophanimon!"

"That's new," Kari said faintly as the light dimmed ever so slightly, revealing a magnificently poised Digimon with the appearance of a beautiful woman, dressed in glittering blue armour, with ten fluttering, golden wings. In one hand she held a blue shield, matching her armour, and in the other was a brilliantly shining staff, the handhold decorated with a small pair of wings.

"Oooh!" Ophanimon breathed, examining herself. "Somebody gave me a boost. I feel great!"

"You look amazing," Kari said, taking in Gatomon's new form in wonder, realising that the light Ophanimon was radiating gave the world it touched colour. "Well, Dagomon will definitely be after you now. Oh, T.K.'s going to be so jealous that you can go Mega and Patamon can't! Oh, no, T.K.!" she exclaimed, worry clouding her face again. "What's he doing? I hope the group aren't here, separated or something! That would be awful!"

"They'll be fine, Kari," Ophanimon reassured her. "We've got to worry about ourselves right now."

Sure enough, Kari heard the sound of several pairs of feet hitting the floor in the corridor beyond the metal bars, which was now illuminated by Ophanimon's radiating glow.

"Right, let's see what Ophanimon can do," Ophanimon said calmly, turning to face the corridor and standing perfectly still next to Kari, who too was standing resolute.

"What's going on here?" Kari heard one of the approaching Divermon say before they appeared around a corner, and she watched as three Divermon suddenly came into view and sprinted towards the cell.

Once they had finally reached the door and were proceeding to stare at Ophanimon's form in confusion, the Throne Digimon allowed a smile to grace the visible lower-half of her face. "Hello, boys," she said, softly.

"Um... hello?" one of the Divermon said, clearly perplexed.

"Are you here for me?" Ophanimon asked, a flash of humour adorning her partially-obscured face.

"We'd better fetch Dagomon," another of the Divermon proposed, mystified.

Ophanimon gave a small shake of her head. "I'm so sorry, boys," she said, completely calmly. "I can't allow you to do that." She raised her staff and the three Divermon froze. "Eden's Needle!" she cried, and the javelin rapidly fired off several arrows of pure, bright light, which shot through the metal bars towards the Divermon. The Divermon cried out as the arrows punctured their chests, before they dissolved in a mass of data.

Kari stared at her partner in shock. "Ophanimon, how could you?" she asked, staring at the spot in which three terrified-looking Divermon faces had been until a second ago.

"It was the kindest thing I could have done for them, Kari," Ophanimon explained, gently. "They will be reborn in the Digital World, in Primary Village, and they will have a better life. We can't worry about them right now, though," she continued, realising that her attack wouldn't go unnoticed for long. "We need to get out of this cell."

"Good plan," Kari said.

"You can swim, right?" Ophanimon asked, as Kari nodded her head uncertainly. "Well, not fast enough," she continued, eyeing her partner's skinny limbs. "Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to blast the ceiling down, and you are going to hold your breath and trust me, okay?" Kari nodded. "Excellent," Ophanimon said, listening as the sound of hundreds of feet came rushing towards them from the distance. She raised her head and called out, "Sefirot Crystal!"

Kari became aware that she was being wrapped in a bear hug, protected from the sound of debris flying apart, and held her breath as she closed her eyes. However, after feeling the impact of Ophanimon soaring upwards through the rubble, she felt the conspicuous absence of water on her face.

Kari opened her eyes at Ophanimon's surprised gasp, only to find herself floating in the air, in Ophanimon's embrace.

* * *

"Ebonwumon, I'm afraid I must ask you to do the impossible," Huanglongmon said, his voice full of regret.

"I understand," the two-headed turtle responded. "I will gladly do it. Whatever it takes to restore the Digital World to the land of peace it once was." He began to separate his twelve Digi-Cores into groups of four.

"Ah, so you had noticed?" Huanglongmon asked.

Ebonwumon gave a sad smile. "Sadness is a terrible thing, and when it engulfs such a wide area as the North..." he said, pensively. "When such a thing happens, steps must be taken to eradicate it."

"You're a good man, Ebonwumon," Huanglongmon said softly as the dark red, light green and dark green Crests began to take form. "I will miss having you around."

"Good thing it's not forever, then, eh?" Ebonwumon said, forcing a gentle laugh before he dissolved into light and the newly-formed Crests were scattered, floating off gently in the light of the mid-day Sun.


	5. Hoping for a Miracle

"We are getting over there _right now_," T.K. announced.

"We can't just charge in, T.K.!" Cody cried in exasperation.

"This time, I think I'm gonna agree with T.K.," Yolei said, watching as a cloud of dust began to rise over on the Ocean. "Hawkmon, Digi-Armour Energise!"

Hawkmon stood still in anticipation, but when nothing happened after a few seconds he blinked. "Yolei, it's not working."

"What?" Yolei asked incredulously. "That can't be right." She got out her D-Terminal and began searching for her Digi-Egg of Love, but instead found a blank screen. "Hey, my Digi-Eggs have disappeared!"

"Could we worry about that later, Yolei?" T.K. asked impatiently. "It's just that Kari could well have been in the centre of that explosion..."

Davis yelped. "My Digi-Eggs have disappeared, too!"

"Yeah, me too," Cody said thoughtfully.

"Well, then, I guess we're all just Digivolving normally," Ken said, nodding at his partner. "Wormmon!"

Wormmon took the lead, emitting a bright lilac light. "Wormmon, Digivolve to... Stingmon!"

Stingmon emerged from the cocoon of light and helped Ken onto his shoulder, as Hawkmon also began to glow.

"Hawkmon, Digivolve to... Aquilamon!"

The deep, green-ish light faded away, revealing the giant eagle. Yolei scrambled onto his back, before calling to Cody.

"Hey, Cody, hop on! Aquilamon can carry you and Armadillomon!" The pair gratefully climbed onto Aquilamon's back.

"Hey!" Davis shouted. "Why does Cody get a lift and I don't?"

"Sorry, Davis," Yolei responded, smirking. "No ride for you. Good luck sweet-talking Ken or T.K.!"

Patamon flapped over to Davis, settling on top of the goggles which had barely left his head in five years. "I'll take you, Davis!"

"Oh, yay," Davis said flatly, as T.K. pointedly smiled and waved at him.

"All right, Patamon, are you ready?" T.K. said, quickly, allowing the Crest of Hope to begin to glow, warming his hand.

Soon, Patamon began to emit his own bright yellow light, before Davis became aware of what was happening and hurriedly placed him back on the ground. "Patamon, warp Digivolve to... MagnaAngemon!"

MagnaAngemon helped T.K. onto his back and gathered up Davis and Veemon in his arms, before spreading his eight wings and taking off towards the fort on the Ocean, Aquilamon and Stingmon following in their wake.

"Kari, are you okay?" Ophanimon asked, a trace of anxiety in her otherwise steady voice.

"Wh- what happened?" Kari responded, craning her neck to tilt her head down over Ophanimon's arms and stare at the pile of rubble they had emerged from.

Ophanimon fluttered her wings, keeping the pair aloft. "It would appear that Dagomon wasn't clever enough to build our gaol cell underwater, it was just a fort," she said thoughtfully.

Kari stared down at the destroyed fort as she noticed that a tinge of colour had been restored to the rock and a small patch of the sea. "Ophanimon, did you colour that bit in?"

Ophanimon smiled, gently. "No, Kari, your Crest did that," she said, before staring out towards the mainland. "And I don't think it was the only one."

Kari followed her partner's gaze and broke into an enormous smile as she saw three familiar Digimon flying towards them from the land, led by an Archangel she hadn't seen for years.

"T.K."

T.K. held his breath as he noticed an unfamiliar Digimon hanging in the sky above the wreckage, a somehow out-of-place speck of white flitting high in the sky above her.

"Hey, what's that angel?" T.K. asked in bewilderment.

MagnaAngemon laughed. "That's not an angel, T.K. If the legends were correct, I do believe that that's a Throne."

"You mean like something you sit on?" Davis chipped in, furrowing his brow. MagnaAngemon chuckled quietly again.

"In a manner of speaking," he replied, ignoring Davis' spluttering of protests. "We are speaking here about the Throne of God, from which He may reign and show kindness and mercy to all creatures."

"Oh, so like an Ophanim?" T.K. asked, as MagnaAngemon flew closer to the fort. T.K. could just about make out the form of a slim girl in the arms of the Digimon.

"That's precisely what I mean," MagnaAngemon replied, calmly. "Ophanimon."

However, T.K. was barely listening by this point, as his focus had become completely centred on the girl Ophanimon was carrying. "Kari!" he called over MagnaAngemon's shoulder, his eyes fixed firmly on his friend. He watched as she gave Ophanimon instructions and the Throne Digimon began to fly in the direction of the group.

"T.K.!" she shouted back, her voice clear and bright over the sound of the air rushing past T.K.'s ears.

"What, no 'Davis'?" Davis grumbled, pouting.

"Do be quiet, Davis," MagnaAngemon advised, as he met Ophanimon. T.K. reached out with his arm and firmly took hold of Kari's outstretched hand.

Veemon stared at Ophanimon as though in a trance. "You look pretty, Gatomon," he pronounced as the rest of the group caught up.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Kari!" Yolei called over the noise of Aquilamon's beating wings, and Kari turned towards the group, her hand still in T.K.'s.

"How did you all get here?" she enquired.

T.K. noticed Ken staring down at the sea but paid it no notice. "We're not really sure. We just kind of appeared here."

"What the HELL is that?" Cody suddenly piped up, pointing down towards the Ocean. T.K. followed his gaze and saw that an army of Digimon were clambering over the remains of the destroyed fort, and appeared to be raising their weapons.

"It's the Divermon," Ophanimon said serenely. "Dagomon will be after us soon."

Ken looked up. "Why are we hanging around, then? Can we not just get out while we can?" he asked.

"Do _you_ know a way out of here, Ken?" MagnaAngemon retorted.

"Well, we could always get a grip and just kind of get pulled back to the Digital World..." Yolei muttered, trailing off.

"Good idea, Yolei," Ophanimon said pointedly. "Why don't we just _get a grip_ instead of remaining completely calm, like we have been for the last few minutes?"

"The Crests of Hope and Light have been protecting us," MagnaAngemon added. "That's a good thing, obviously, but it makes it impossible to leave that way."

Cody blinked. "So what are we going to do? We can't _fight_ like this!" As he completed his outburst, one of the Divermon far below released their spear and MagnaAngemon had to swerve to the left to dodge it, separating T.K.'s hand from Kari's in the process.

"MagnaAngemon, could you put me down for a second?" Veemon asked suddenly, staring at the sky, as the entire group gasped in shock.

"If you go down there, Veemon, you're gonna die," Davis said bluntly. "And then I'm going to kill you _again _for being so stupid."

"Wow, Veemon," Ophanimon said sardonically. "Davis is lecturing you about being stupid."

"Just trust me, okay?" Veemon insisted, clambering out of MagnaAngemon's left arm and hurling himself towards the water, just as T.K. noticed Davis' Digivice glowing on his hip.

"Veemon, Digivolve to... ExVeemon!"

Kari's eyes widened in horror. "Yeah, because what we really need is one Champion to fight against an entire legion of Ultimates!" she exclaimed, a note of hysteria in her voice.

"I understand," MagnaAngemon said, glancing up at the sky as the army below continued to increase in size as more and more Divermon flooded up from the ruins of the fort. "Ken."

"Thank you, MagnaAngemon," Ken said quietly, lowering his own gaze from the twinkle in the sky and climbing onto Veemon's spot. The Digi-Destined were forced to take their eyes off the ever-expanding Divermon army as a bright white light suddenly burst from the white speck above the group.

"ExVeemon!"

"Stingmon"!

"Jogress Digivolve to... Paildramon!"

"Okay," Yolei said doubtfully, watching as ExVeemon's ball of light flew up into the air and fused with Stingmon's. "We have one more Ultimate. Big deal."

Ophanimon sighed. "Yolei, you're missing the point," she said, gesturing at the still-glowing mystery Crest in the sky, which seemed to be temporarily blinding the Divermon.

"Paildramon, Digivolve to... Imperialdramon!"

"Now, _that's_ useful," Aquilamon said, as Imperialdramon flew over to pick up Kari, T.K., Ken and Davis, setting them safely in the chamber on his back.

"Aww, Cody, we're the only useless ones!" Yolei wailed, as Imperialdramon approached the group on Aquilamon's back.

Cody frowned. "I refuse to be useless," he said, as his Digivice took on a glow and Armadillomon disappeared into a storm of sky-blue light.

"Armadillomon, Digivolve to... Ankylomon!"

"Yeah, because suddenly putting on so much weight your rider can't carry you any more is really useful!" Yolei chimed in, only to find MagnaAngemon promptly plucking her and Cody from Aquilamon's back, just as he too became engulfed by a ball of green light.

"Ankylomon!"

"Aquilamon!"

"Jogress Digivolve to... Okuwamon!"

"Did you know they could do that?" Cody asked Yolei faintly as they too climbed onto Imperialdramon's back. Yolei shook her head in astonishment as the ball of light around Okuwamon pulsed, sending turquoise shockwaves in every direction. The light of the white Crest in the sky grew brighter.

"Okuwamon, Digivolve to... GranKuwagamon!"

T.K. watched on in amazement. "Okay, that was awesome," he said, eventually, as the giant black beetle soared through the sky and settled at Imperialdramon's side.

"Hey, MagnaAngemon?" Ophanimon said in amusement, staring down at the dazzled Divermon army. "We're all Mega. Why aren't you?"

"I would hazard a guess at that Crest being something to do with it," MagnaAngemon said slowly as the Divermon began to grow impatient and throw the odd spear in the direction of the light. "The Crest of Hope only had the power to let me go Ultimate."

T.K. facepalmed. "In that case, why are you just hanging around now?" he asked incredulously.

MagnaAngemon frowned in response, before allowing the light of the hovering white Crest to engulf him, too.

"MagnaAngemon, Digivolve to... Seraphimon!"

"That's more like it," Ophanimon said, watching as the sphere of light surrounding her fighting partner gradually faded away to reveal a majestic armour-clad Seraphim, ten golden wings shimmering in the light of the slowly-retreating mystery Crest. "Are you ready, Seraphimon?"

"Always," Seraphimon responded, before the white Crest winked out in the sky and the angels gestured to Imperialdramon and GranKuwagamon behind them. The group took off as the Divermon found their bearings, and soon a volley of spears was hurtling towards the four Megas.

The Digi-Destined found themselves thrown to the floor as Imperialdramon fell into a dive, their own momentum knocking them off their feet as the giant dragon swooped low over the assembled Divermon, aiming his cannon. "Positron Laser!" he cried as a burst of antimatter erupted from the cannon in an explosion of colour, illuminating the grey world. Most of the antimatter reacted with the air, sending out brilliant sparks as matter and antimatter annihilated, and the resulting shockwave ploughed into half a dozen Divermon below, causing them to dissolve in a twinkle of data.

"Sorry about that, guys, are you all right?" Imperialdramon queried, soaring back up high into the air where the Divermon's spears couldn't reach. T.K. got to his feet just in time to see GranKuwagamon take his turn at the Divermon.

"Dimension Scissors!" GranKuwagamon bellowed, chopping at several Divermon with his gigantic mandibles and reducing them to data, before returning to his position high up in the air.

"Nice one!" Ophanimon called out, and T.K. saw her move into position by Seraphimon.

"Fatal Cannon!" the angels cried out in unison from their position in the sky, sending an enormous blast of white light down at the crowd of Divermon, many of whom responded by dissolving.

Kari gave a short burst of laughter in triumph, just in time for another several dozen Divermon to emerge from the wreckage of the fort, these ones wearing larger propellers on their backs.

"Do those Divermon look... _different_, to you, in any way?" Ken asked, staring down at the gathering apprehensively. As if they had heard him, about thirty Divermon revved their motors and left the ground, beginning an unsteady-looking ascent towards the airborne Digimon, spears wielded.

"Well, this could be interesting," Kari said under her breath. "Ophanimon!"

Ophanimon turned towards the dome on Imperialdramon's back and winked at her charge. "I'm on it, Kari," she said serenely, turning towards the approaching flying Divermon and raising her staff. "Eden's Javelin!" she cried, tossing the spear with all her might in direction of the closest Divermon. The spear caught five Divermon, impaling them one by one until they resembled a kebab, before they dissolved into a large cloud of data and the Ophanimon recovered her javelin. However, there were still twenty-five flying Divermon approaching the group.

"Seven Heavens!" Seraphimon shouted, conjuring up seven super-hot photospheres and flinging them at the levitating Divermon, who responded by throwing their spears at the photospheres. The balls of light made short work of the spears, and went on to effectively split the group in half, eliminating several along the way.

"Geo Mega Napalm!" came the yells of both GranKuwagamon and Imperialdramon, and T.K. felt the recoil of Imperialdramon's attack as the remainder of the flying Divermon found themselves engulfed in a sea of fire.

Davis laughed out loud. "Ha! I bet you wish you'd never left the sea," he yelled, as the Divermon burned to a crisp.

However, before anybody could say anything else, they stared down at the sea where yet another wave of Divermon was appearing, this time headed by Dagomon himself.

Dagomon gave what looked like an order, and the third wave of about a hundred Divermon assumed a new formation, splitting into groups of five and converging on the Megas, driving them into one gathering.

"An elementary mistake," Seraphimon mused, looking around. "They can't fire if they're in a circle, they could easily miss and hit their own comrades."

Before he could say anything more, Dagomon himself moved on the fort below, hurling his trident up in the air, several hundred yards away from where the group were converged. The trident soared through the sky and hurtled straight into the stomach of a straggling Divermon. The implication was clear; the Divermon were expendable to Dagomon.

The Divermon forming the circle around the Digi-Destined group raised their spears, throwing them with all of their might towards the centre of their circle. Imperialdramon immediately led the group upwards, but was cut off by another group of Divermon appearing above the circle, throwing their harpoons down towards the group. The Mega Digimon retreated downwards, away from the Divermon, but Dagomon threw his own trident towards the group. This one, however, didn't miss. The trident clipped the edge of one of Seraphimon's wings, and the Seraphim cried out in pain.

"Seraphimon!" T.K. shouted in alarm, noticing how much faster Seraphimon's other wings had to work to support his weight.

Seraphimon gave a slight grimace, and turned briefly to Imperialdramon's passengers. "I'm fine. We need to come up with a plan."

"Zone Black Hole!" Grankuwagamon cried, creating a temporary spherical barrier between them and the army of Divermon.

Ophanimon pointedly smiled at the nearest Divermon and gave it a small wave, laughing when it retaliated by throwing its spear into the dark grey wall between them, into which it dissolved. "Okay," she said, turning to the group. "One of us needs to confront Dagomon before he Digivolves."

Davis whistled. "Would you rather fight one elephant-sized ant or a million ant-sized elephants?" he asked nobody in particular.

Kari blinked. "That was surprisingly insightful," she said.

"Do you really think so, Kari?" Davis asked, his eyes widening.

"Yeah. It also went without saying. Don't get a big head, Davis," Ophanimon chipped in. "Your goggles can only stretch so far."

Yolei collapsed into giggles as Davis stared at the floor.

Ophanimon turned to Seraphimon and adopted a calm expression. "Keep still, Seraphimon," she continued, gently holding his cut wing. "Saint Heal."

T.K. watched as Ophanimon's fingertips radiated a peaceful orange glow and the inch-long tear in Seraphimon's wing knitted itself back together, the jagged edges rejoining like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle in Ophanimon's delicate hands. After a couple of seconds, all that was left of the rip was a faint red mark.

"Thank you, Ophanimon," Seraphimon said gratefully, stretching the wing.

"Don't exert too much energy on that wing, it'll still hurt for a bit," Ophanimon said, smiling. "We aren't all capable of the Final Heal."

"Okay, so what are we going to do about these Divermon?" GranKuwagamon asked, pointing to one of the Divermon who was attempting to break a hole in the barrier with its own head.

"You all keep them busy for a while," Ophanimon ordered. "I'm going to go and have a word with our pal Dagomon."

Seraphimon started. "Are you crazy? You can't go down there on your own, the Divermon will kill you! Let me go with you!"

"Um. No," Ophanimon stated. "Your wing is still hurt, and you won't be able to get out quickly if we get ambushed. Besides," she added, her eyes twinkling mischievously, "he has a soft spot for me. We wouldn't want him getting jealous, would we?"

T.K. watched as Kari rolled her eyes slightly. "Ophanimon, are you going to be okay?" she asked.

Ophanimon winked at her. "Of course. He's only an Ultimate, how strong can he really be?"

"Says the Digimon who would Digivolve from Angewomon," T.K. muttered, recalling the incident many years ago when Angewomon had easily seen off Myotismon.

"GranKuwagamon, lift the barrier on three," Ophanimon said. "Then, keep them as far away from the fort as possible."

"Got it," GranKuwagamon said.

"Okay," Ophanimon said, heading for the bottom of the dark sphere and spreading her wings as wide as possible. "One, two, _three_," she declared, shooting through the mass off Divermon as the barrier went up. T.K. fought to stay on his feet as Imperialdramon hurried after Ophanimon, Seraphimon and GranKuwagamon at his side, forming a line in between Ophanimon and the Divermon.

T.K. kept half an eye on Ophanimon as the Throne Digimon fluttered down to Dagomon, who had sheathed his trident. Only half aware of the cries of "Positron Laser!" or "Hell Dive!" going on around him, T.K. watched in amazement as Ophanimon stood before Dagomon, apparently speaking calmly. After about a minute of this, Dagomon appeared to begin emitting a bright white light, and Ophanimon quickly flew backwards, away from the monstrous creature emerging from the supernova.

* * *

"Why, hello there, Dagomon," Ophanimon said, calmly, as she approached the mass of tentacles.

"Good afternoon, Ophanimon," Dagomon replied affably, openly admiring the Throne and sheathing his trident. "I like the new look," he added.

Ophanimon smiled humourously. "I thought you might," she said, standing before the eldritch abomination and giving a small twirl.

"I don't suppose you're here to tell me you have reconsidered becoming my Queen?" Dagomon asked, playing with the forks of his trident over his shoulder.

"I'm afraid not," Ophanimon replied. "Ruling has never been an ambition of mine. I have always preferred to act as a Throne for greatness, providing the wheels to deliver mercy and kindness instead of giving it myself. I'm not nice enough to perform that duty."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Dagomon said, a nasty grin spreading across his face. "What about if I were to show you the true extent of my power?"

"I'm not interested," Ophanimon said firmly, beginning to back away slowly with her eyes fixed on Dagomon's hideous form. However, Dagomon proceeded to disappear into a bright, white light and Ophanimon decided to get back. This was a good decision, as the light quickly faded to reveal a gigantic, demonic two-tailed reptile, easily bigger than the fort it was perched on top of.

The demon's huge jaw opened and emitted a laugh so enormous Ophanimon could see the fort itself shaking with the vibration. "My name is Leviamon. Have you changed your mind yet?"

Ophanimon eyed the reptile warily, still backing away. "No. Sorry, Leviamon, you're just not my type," she said.

"I would run, then, if I were you," Leviamon responded dangerously. It suddenly occurred to Ophanimon that each one of the demon's razor-sharp teeth was probably bigger than she was.

* * *

"Ophanimon!" Kari shouted as the giant reptile emerged from the light.

T.K. gave an involuntary shudder as the new Digimon's ominous voice boomed through the sky, stopping the attacking Divermon in their tracks long enough for half of them to be taken out by Imperialdramon. "My name is Leviamon. Have you changed your mind yet?" the voice said in tones so chilling T.K. felt like actually shivering.

Ophanimon appeared to give a reply, and the voice rang out again. "I would run, then, if I were you."

"Look out!" Ken called as Leviamon whipped his tails around and sent them flying at Ophanimon. Ophanimon dodged as the Divermon took the lashing-out as their cue to charge.

"Starlight Explosion!" Seraphimon called, blasting a dazzling wall of light towards the Divermon, who stopped in their tracks, dazed.

"You all take out the Divermon!" Ophanimon's voice faintly came from the distance. "I'll deal with Leviamon!"

"Oh, you'll 'deal with me', will you?" Leviamon's cold voice demanded. "We'll see about that. Anima!" he shrieked, as an entire thunderstorm flew from his nostrils and engulfed Ophanimon, lightning bolts shooting from the multi-coloured cloud. Kari screamed.

"She'll be fine, Kari," Imperialdramon said firmly. "We need to worry about ourselves right now. Splendour Blade!" he cried, and T.K. was thrown to the floor as Imperialdramon moved to slash half a dozen stunned Divermon with the blades on the back of his armoured hands.

T.K. caught sight of GranKuwagamon dodging a half-hearted harpoon thrown by one of the Divermon, and heard a shout of "Grand Death Screw!" as yet another group of Divermon dissolved into data.

"Yes! Go GranKuwagamon!" Yolei called in triumph, high-fiving Cody as T.K. saw Ophanimon emerging from the thundercloud down below.

"I see you're still alive," came the deep voice of Leviamon. "I'm impressed, Throne."

"Yeah, well, I know how to handle electricity," Ophanimon replied. "I have a good friend who likes to play with it."

Seraphimon gave a small chuckle as he took out half a dozen Divermon.

"Do you feel like we're somehow missing out on a joke?" Davis asked Cody, who shrugged. "Hey, T.J., tell us what she means."

"Your guess is as good as mine," T.K. said, his eyes fixed on Ophanimon as Imperialdramon continued to blast the army of Divermon, who appeared to be regaining control of themselves and fighting back.

Ophanimon pointed her staff at Leviamon. "Eden's Needle!" she called, as the javelin fired off several long needles of light at the Demon Lord Digimon. The needles flew towards Leviamon's elongated snout and penetrated it, causing his nostrils to shine like a torch.

"Oooh, pretty!" Ophanimon exclaimed, allowing herself to be distracted for a second by the swirling clouds of colour contrasting against the grey of Leviamon's nose.

"Don't get distracted!" Kari yelled. "You're not a cat any more!"

Ophanimon grinned. "Perhaps not, but I was ten minutes ago," she called back as Leviamon turned towards her.

"Rostrum!" the vast reptile cried, picking his colossal head up from its position floating on the sea and swinging it through the sky. Ophanimon corkscrewed through the air, her blonde hair fanning out behind her as she fought to avoid being hit. Ophanimon darted high enough into the air to get out of range of Leviamon, rejoining the main group, who were still surrounded by a couple of dozen particularly resilient Divermon.

"Ugh," Ophanimon muttered, watching as the remaining few Divermon raised their harpoons at her. "Sefirot Crystal!" she exclaimed, firing sharp shards of blue at them until they had completely dissolved. "You guys are useless, can't you even take on a few Divermon?"

"There were _dozens_ of them, Ophanimon," Imperialdramon insisted. "In case you had forgotten, they're Ultimates."

"I was _teasing_," Ophanimon said with a small laugh as she turned back to the watching Leviamon. "Now, let's see if we can't do anything about herding this stubborn sheep."

"Ohhhhh, okay," Seraphimon said in comprehension. "Lead the way, Ophanimon."

"Gladly," the Throne responded, leading the four down towards the thrashing demon. "I'll distract him," she said, quietly. "Imperialdramon, GranKuwagamon, trap him. Seraphimon, you send him towards me."

The other three Digimon nodded in agreement and split up, Imperialdramon and GranKuwagamon settling a few hundred metres apart on either side of the mammoth reptile, whose gaze was on Ophanimon, just out of reach of his snout and flying away from him.

"Geo Mega Napalm!" Imperialdramon and GranKuwagamon called out simultaneously, and T.K. lost sight of Leviamon behind an enormous wall of pure fire flickering out from the ocean, casting bright red light over the grey world.

Seraphimon positioned himself behind Leviamon at the end of the two walls of fire. "Starlight Explosion!" he shouted, and a wall of solid white light hurtled down the channel, chasing Leviamon out in the direction of Ophanimon. T.K. caught sight of a tail flickering through the wall of fire as Leviamon ran, and a puff of a multi-coloured cloud illuminated by Seraphimon's attack.

"Hello," Ophanimon said, a note of humour in her musical voice as she raised her staff. "Eden's Javelin!" she cried, pulling back her arm and flinging the staff in the direction of the colossal demon. The Javelin found its mark, burying itself in the Demon Lord Digimon's gigantic head and emitting a gigantic shower of multi-coloured sparks, illuminating the grey landscape and restoring colour to the bleak world.

"I daresay you think this means you've won," Leviamon said coldly as the rainbow cloud flowed freely from the hole in his head. "You're wrong."

Ophanimon started. "What are you talking about?"

Leviamon laughed. "You think I'm your strongest adversary out there. I may be King of the Dark Ocean, but there are enemies in other worlds you couldn't even dream of defeating."

"You're lying," Seraphimon said, quickly.

"Oh, but I'm not," Leviamon retorted as he began disappearing, the bits of his data starting to float up into the air. "You have dealt a blow to the Nightmare Soldiers. The Commander won't be pleased."

"Oh, would you just stop being so melodramatic?" Ophanimon demanded. "First you were talking about ruling the world, now when it suits you you're part of an army!" However, before Leviamon could reply, he had disappeared in a cloud of multi-coloured gas.

T.K. watched in amazement as Imperialdramon and GranKuwagamon extinguished the flames and the rainbow-coloured cloud expanded, permanently restoring colour to the grey environment. The sea took on an aquamarine hue, spreading out to the horizon and beyond, the sky turned blue and the trees on the mainland became a rich green, standing out against the solid white of the cliff-face. Looking up at the clouds gently rolling across the sky, T.K. watched as the mystery Crest twinkled in the sky and Ophanimon began to shrink, the staff which had been in Leviamon's head dissolving.

Seraphimon darted forwards to catch Ophanimon's Fresh form, and the three Megas flew back to the mainland before returning to their own Fresh forms.

"That was brilliant, YukimiBotamon," Kari cried, stumbling forwards to embrace the small white Digimon.

T.K. greeted Poyomon himself, before addressing the group, who were joyfully holding their own partners. "Good work, team!" he exclaimed, as Davis turned towards him indignantly.

"Hey, who made you the leader here?" he demanded, and the entire group burst into laughter.

"Fine, then, Davis," Yolei said, her voice hinting at humour. "You lead us home, seeing as you're clearly so eager to share your wisdom."

Davis pouted. "Yeah, about that. How are we getting home?"

"An excellent question," Ken said, quietly, staring up at the sky.

"Well, you're the genius, here, Ken, surely you have some sort of idea?" Davis spluttered.

Ken gave a small laugh. "How about a Miracle?"

"What?" Cody asked, as he too looked up into the sky and saw the mystery Crest floating down towards them. The Crest hovered in front of Ken for a second, before disappearing into his chest.

The group watched in amazement as Ken closed his eyes, and began emitting a soft, white glow, which slowly began to turn violet. After a couple of seconds, the white Crest reappeared, and Ken took out his D-Terminal.

"It says it's not my Crest," he explained. "That's the Crest of Miracles. It says its owner is far away, and it is going to return to them shortly, but first it had to free my own Crest before it could go to its rightful owner." He flipped open the D-Terminal to reveal an image of a purple Crest with a rose-like pattern on it.

"Why are the Crests suddenly returning?" Cody wondered.

"Perhaps Leviamon wasn't lying," T.K. said, darkly. "Perhaps there really is a greater enemy out there."

"The Crest of Miracles told me it's going to send us home," Ken continued.

Yolei frowned. "I wonder why it chose Ken to speak to."

"Well, it had to give me my Crest," Ken mused. "Also, it knows that I knew how to get here in the first place."

T.K. saw Leafmon looking up at Ken in alarm, but before anybody could say anything, the Crest glowed so brightly T.K. had to close his eyes. When he felt the light disappear and he reopened his eyes, the group was back in the Takaishis' study and the Crest was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, that was strange," YukimiBotamon squeaked from Kari's arms. "Kidnapped by a maniac, rescued by a piece of plastic, a new Digivolution and now Ken can speak to inanimate objects. That's rather more interesting than watching Kari doing homework."

"He's not the only person to have spoken to a Crest," Davis considered. "When Wormmon died that time, the Crest of Kindness spoke to me, telling me to trust Ken. It was rather special, I think everybody should try talking to a Crest."

Kari frowned lightly, taking out her Crest and closing her eyes. After about ten seconds, she spoke. "I got nothing," she said, uncurling her fist to replace the Crest in her pocket.

T.K. glanced at the Crest and did a double take, seizing Kari's wrist before she could put it away. "Kari, could I see that for a second?"

Kari blinked. "My Crest? Okay," she said in confusion, handing it over.

T.K. narrowed his eyes as he examined the Crest, taking in its unfamiliar pattern. "Kari, what happened to the design?"

Kari shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. It looked like that when Gatomon found it in our cell," she said, as T.K. traced the pale crescent with his index finger.

"Well, I suppose it worked, so it's probably nothing to worry about," T.K. decided, handing it back to Kari. "YukimiBotamon, did it feel much different Digivolving with it?"

YukimiBotamon's mouth turned down into a frown as she thought. "Well, it did feel slightly different, but isn't that only to be expected when you go Mega for the first time?" she replied.

Poyomon jumped up onto T.K.'s head. "Yeah, going Mega did feel slightly different," he seconded. T.K.'s frown deepened.

"Okay, then," he said, calmly.

Tsubumon took that moment to yawn widely. "I suppose I had better get you home, Tsubumon," Cody said. "Sorry, T.K., He's worn out.

"I second that!" Pururumon chirped. "I feel like I could curl up in Yolei's sock drawer and sleep for days!"

T.K. laughed quietly. "You've all done brilliantly. You deserve a rest," he said, kindly. "Go home, all of you. Rest up, so that if Leviamon turned out to have been telling the truth about the 'enemy' we can fight it. Oh, and Kari," he added, as he led the Digi-Destined to the door. "I'm really sorry for getting you into that mess."

Kari's eyes widened. "It wasn't your fault, T.K.," she said, sadly.

T.K. grabbed Kari's shoulder and pulled her into a quick hug as the group reached the door. "I'm really glad you're all right," he said, softly. Kari smiled as he let her go, and she and YukimiBotamon led the group out of the door.

"We'll talk to you soon, T.K.," Cody said as he and Tsubumon left at the back of the group.

"See you all soon," T.K. said, and he and Poyomon waved until their friends were out of sight.

* * *

"Baihumon."

"I wondered how long it would take for you to show up, Huanglongmon," Baihumon responded.

"Ah, so you noticed?" Huanglongmon asked, calmly.

Baihumon gave a humourless laugh. "It's difficult not to notice when your three colleagues suddenly wink out of existence," he retorted. "Will the Crests be safe?"

"They're going to the best possible holders," Huanglongmon said, delicately. "The world cannot be saved while we retain the DigiCores."

"I know," Baihumon sighed, beginning to split the DigiCores into groups of four. "Just so long as the West remains under protection."

"Thank you," Huanglongmon responded as the three Crests, sky-blue, purple and grey, began to form, and the second they had been released and Baihumon disappeared into nothingness, Huanglongmon retreated to the Kernel.

* * *

**Author's notes: Nope, I didn't abandon this story, I just had a lot of trouble with this chapter. I have never written a fight scene of any description before (so this is also kind of practice for my Sherlock/Hunger Games crossover) so I welcome criticism - stuff like did I make it too easy for the Digi-Destined, was the action believable, what was the pacing like? I'm not expecting it to have been much good because I have no experience writing similar stuff, so this was entirely new to me, and it was kind of written in a hurry on the last day of Camp NaNo to get a cumulative word-count of 30,000 (WHICH I ACHIEVED! Yeah, okay, I rounded my original goal down, but I still set a personal words-per-month record). I welcome ideas for improving my writing. :)**

**On an identical note, thank you for the reviews! :D**

**Now all that is left of this arc is the epilogue, and I can start writing the second arc (of three), in which there are plots and things actually happen and there is character development! Yay!  
**

**Another note: Aquilamon and Ankylomon actually do canonically jogress to Okuwamon X. I decided to do away with the X antibody here, though, because it's not relevant to any of my story's plot. Therefore, Okuwamon. Also, I thought it was fitting that Dinobeemon's Mega form could make an appearance. GranKuwagamon doesn't get nearly enough love; when ExVeemon and Stingmon Jogress in the anime, ExVeemon always initiates and Stingmon's line isn't shown - they wasted a perfectly good plot. So I threw it in somewhere else. After a fashion. :)**


	6. Epilogue - Ambition And Vetoes

After having heard that Tai was back from University, T.K. took the first opportunity he could to visit the Kamiyas' house personally to apologise.

Knocking on the door, he mentally prepared his words, only to forget every one of them when the door opened quickly and he found Gatomon staring at him.

Gatomon raised an eyebrow at T.K. before turning back inside the house. "Kari, T.K.'s here for you!" she called. However, before T.K. could correct the cat, she had strolled off leaving him standing alone outside the front door.

"She didn't even offer you a 'hello'?" Kari asked as she came into view. "I'll have to have a word with her about that..."

"Don't worry about it," T.K. shrugged. "Hi, Kari. I was actually here to speak to your brother, but it's nice to see you."

At that moment, Tai crashed through a door off the living room and ran towards T.K. and Kari. "I heard Gatomon say you were here," he said to T.K., folding his arms and leaning against the wall with a disapproving expression. "Are you here to apologise for getting my baby sister kidnapped and nearly killed by a maniac?"

T.K. stared at the floor. "Yes. I sincerely apologise for putting Kari in danger."

Kari frowned at T.K. "Hey, why are you apologising? It wasn't your fault I was dragged into the Dark Ocean..."

"I feel responsible anyway," T.K. said, sadly. "I made a promise all those years ago to look after you, and yet I wasn't able to protect you when you needed it. I really am deeply sorry."

Tai simply stared at T.K. in disbelief. "I was kidding, you know, I know it's not your fault."

"I still feel guilty," T.K. said.

"Uh, fine, you're forgiven," Tai said, unfolding his arms and leaning his elbow against the wall. "If you still think you deserve punishment, instead of beating you up for it, I shall wield my braternal veto if Kari ever brings you home, for irresponsibly losing her. Okay?"

T.K. frowned at Tai as he noticed Kari turning to her brother with an irked expression on her face. "But I came here of my own accord," T.K. said.

Tai gave T.K. a strange look. "Have a good evening, T.K.," he finally said, turning back into his room.

"That was strange..." T.K. muttered, as Kari slightly raised an eyebrow.

"It was, wasn't it?" she said with a small laugh.

"Anyway, I had better be going," T.K. said, abruptly. "My mother's working late on some story or other, so I have to cook for Patamon. He's been begging for prawn crackers and custard all afternoon. That's why I didn't bring him with me," he said.

"I really hope Gatomon didn't hear that, those are her favourites," Kari said, smiling. "Okay. Good night, T.K."

"Good night, Kari," T.K. said, giving a small wave before he walked away and headed home.

* * *

"Leviamon is dead, Chief," said a voice.

A deeply ominous laugh rang out through the vast room. "It seems we're down to two for now, then," he said. "I wouldn't worry about it, Beelzemon, that fool deserved to die."

Beelzemon stared at the dark figure at the head of the long table in the shadowed room. "Are you not bothered that we essentially have no backup, sir?"

"Not at all," the second voice said breezily. "I wouldn't call the Nightmare Soldiers army '_no backup_', and the fact that we're missing five Commanders is nothing to worry about."

"But sir," Beelzemon insisted, "Leviamon's division has been wiped out. We're down an entire faction."

"Yes, a faction of idiots," the second voice muttered. "What use have we for a few hundred _Divermon_ led by a moron who actually believes in the myth of Behemon? Absolutely no ambition," he finished, folding his arms.

"_Ambition_?" Beelzemon demanded. "I have known the power of a part of Behemoth, and it is not to be trifled with! Had it worked, Leviamon and Ophanimon could have taken control of the entire Digital World!"

The second voice gave another chilling laugh. "Not on my watch. For going behind my back, Leviamon was always going to die, whether that be by humiliating defeat at the hands of those kids or now, at our regular meeting. I will admit, however," he said, pensively, "part of his plan showed promise. I think he was correct in assuming that the Ophanimon would make a good Queen. However, assigning her to the Land would have been a mistake."

"Uh, this is purely hypothetical, right?" Beelzemon asked.

"But of course," the second voice responded flippantly. "Part one of my Plan was to eliminate Leviamon anyway. I knew he would defect from The Cause."

Beelzemon coughed slightly. "So, what you're saying is that the Digi-Destined pulled off part of your plan for you?"

"Precisely!" the second voice declared. "It has worked out rather well so far, actually, because the Digi-Destined have weakened themselves fighting Leviamon's troops, so I didn't have to. Now for part two. Phantomon!"

_Yes, Master,_ Beelzemon heard inside his head as the ghost floated into the room, scythe resting on its shoulder.

"The Crests have been released, so we need to pay Huanglongmon a visit, now the Four Sovereigns are dead, before he can seal away the Digi-Eggs," the second voice said. "Once Huanglongmon has been disposed of, we can worry about Part 3."

"I assume Part 3 is the Dark Area?" Beelzemon chipped in, earning himself a glare from the dark figure at the head of the table.

"Partially," he said, frowning. "I'll brief you on that once Phantomon and I have dealt with the inevitable fail-safes Huanglongmon will have set up, other than the Digi-Eggs. Now, come, Phantomon," he said, sweeping out of the door.

Beelzemon too stood up as he heard the voice of Phantomon drifting through his head.

_Yes, Lord Daemon_.

* * *

**Author's notes: Part one is complete! I'll begin on part two as soon as I have worked out the logistics of the plot - I know exactly what is happening, but I want to make sure that it's both not complete rubbish (hopefully) and sufficiently different from parts one and three as to be interesting. Part two shall be titled Corruptio Lumini (make of that what you will...) and I'll probably start writing it within a month or two - after Camp NaNoWriMo and LeakyCon (YAY) I have an enormous book backlog to work my way through.**

**As always, thank you for your comments. I value the opportunity to improve my writing, so it's nice to hear constructive criticism. Yay! :)**


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